Alright, so lets take a look at some of of the worst mascots in hockey history, starting with the mascot that inspired the list…. Gritty the MethHead Muppet!

Gritty

Gritty looks like you Youppi cut off Elmo’s face and pasted it on, then someone gave him all the drugs and forced him to live in the streets of Philadelphia for a year.

The fact that this probably had to be approved by multiple people and no one questioned it is the most mind boggling thing here.

According to the Flyers website he is the son of a "bully," and has been hiding in Wells Fargo Center for years… watching you, just watching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

@GrittyNHL

Edit: I wrote this the day he was announced. After a few days and seeing the reaction to the character go from negative to meme, I’m going to give someone in the Flyers organization credit. Either they planned Gritty to be an internet sensation or they switch gears extremely quickly to turn into the skid. Either way, it is turning out to be a huge success for the Flyers, even if a few kids need to be scared to get there.

Scorch the Ember

When the Adirondack Flames introduced Scorch in 2014 he didn’t seem so bad. He was a little weird looking with a goofy face, but he was kid friendly and fit the team…. Then they unveiled his backstory. From Flames president Brian Petrovek’s apology letter:

“Earlier today we unveiled our new mascot Scorch. In an attempt to provide background material for the character who will be the face of our team, particularly with young fans, we crafted a story that Scorch was the remaining ember from the tragic fire that destroyed much of Glens Falls in 1864.” -

YouTube

I mean, sure not so bad, except to show this they unveiled him with a skit. And during this skit he murdered a firefighter…HE MURDERED A FIREFIGHTER.

"We also crafted a skit that helped to launch the new mascot — with the help of the Glens Falls Fire Department. While it seemed in good taste when it was on the drawing board, it is evident now that it was in poor taste.”

Yeah…no shit. Needless to say murdering firefighters as a way to appeal to children did not go over well and Scorch was extinguished five days later.

Boomer the Cannon

No idea what the Columbus Blue Jackets were thinking when they unveiled the oddly inflatable Boomer in 2010.

You guys have Stinger, who is one of the best mascots in the NHL.

Rule 1 of having a mascot that is suppose to appeal to children, don’t make it look like a giant penis/bong.

I mean, that just seems like common sense. Boomer was decommissioned before seasons end.

Iceman

The mighty Iceman cometh, the Iceman leaveth.

Iceman was the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s secondary mascot for their inaugural…. two periods. He performed during a very 90’s, very Disney pregame ceremony that has to be seen to be believed.

The Mighty Ducks were down 5-1, the fans turned on the Iceman and the call was made by Disney’s Director of Entertainment, Mike Davis, to call it a night after the 2nd intermission. He was never seen or heard from again.

“We’ve . . . got to put some distance between that bad performance and the crowd. At this point, it wouldn’t matter if he was Neil Diamond up there, he’d still get booed.” - Mighty Ducks President Tony Tavares.

Well, at least the primary mascot introduced that night was Wild Wing.

Penguin Pete

The story of Penguin Pete is sad more than anything.

Pete the Penguin was on loan to the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Pittsburgh Zoo and made two appearances with the club in 1967/68.

That offseason they had specially made skates commissioned for him from CCM Canada with the attention of teaching him to skate to lead the team out on opening night. However, Pete never heard how to skate as he was more interested in sliding on his belly.

Pete was suppose to be a mainstay in 1968/69, but ended up making his final appearance on November 16th.

You see, Pete was a Ecuadorian Penguin and was not used to the cold. He was returned to the Pittsburgh Zoo and contracted pneumonia, passing away on November 23rd. He was then stuffed and put on display in The Igloo, where he was reportedly later discarded in the trash.

A sad end to the Penguins first mascot.

Let me tell you all the story of Penguin Pete,Knock-kneed and bow-legged, with skates on his feet.On the rink he waddled as game time would draw near,Pittsburgh’s crowds were small but those fans sure did cheer.Yet poor Pete was from the tropics, rather than the South Pole,And one day, wouldn’t you know it? He came down with quite the cold.They took him to the zoo, where they put him to straight to bed,and a few days later, little Pete the mascot was quite surely dead.